Well, it's been almost an entire week since I finished the last of my project bikes (although, truth be told: are any of them ever truly completed?) I went out to look at a vintage Olmo this morning and drove off with an early 70's Raleigh Carlton Super Course. Based upon the placement of the serial number, it appears to be ca. 1973 - but I'm happy to be corrected on this point as Raleighs are not my strong suit.

It's pretty rough in places, but mechanically seems to be sound - at least on first blush. The mech shifts very smoothly on the stand. Reynolds 531 on the main tubes, and the chrome seems to be cleaning up with relative ease, thanks to Windex, aluminum foil, and a bit of elbow grease. Here is the front fork following an initial cleaning:

I did a bit of research a while back when I found this 1973 Raleigh International. As nearly as I could tell, 73 was the only year that had the Carpella lugs. I could easily be wrong on this but my guess is your bike is 73. Perhaps you would want to investigate its vintage yourself by looking through the pages of How Old Is My Bicycle.

I'm going to dig into the bearings this weekend. I took the old girl for a ride down the block, cobwebs and all - it's all surprisingly smooth. Felt so good, in fact, that I pulled the PX-10 off the ceiling and went for a longer ride. Man, I love these late 60's/early 70's roadies!

@Randyjawa: 1973 is what I'm figuring too. I'd initially guessed at 1971, but changed my mind after visiting this site.

+1 I tried to sell mine last weekend and failed miserably. I'm not upset.

Some Scratch-X would really do a nice job on the paint. I'd say '73 as well. Blocky Raleigh Lettering with the Script top tube model name. '72, both were in Script and by 74 I think it was already the Super Course MKII

Neal, I wish it wasn't quite such a pain to clean the gunk out of the cutouts, but I agree: they are pretty cool lugs.

Auchen, I was curious about your RD because I've got the original Simplex - which, incidentally seems to be working fine. My experience with the delrin, however, has been that it will eventually break, especially when as it ages. I'll run the Simplex until something does happen but will probably look to Suntour (as I usually do in these instances) when the inevitable happens. The V-GT Luxe is one of my favorites, btw, and I probably have four or five of them cleaned and maintenanced and waiting on the bench to bat cleanup for the Simplex.

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Auchen, I was curious about your RD because I've got the original Simplex - which, incidentally seems to be working fine. My experience with the delrin, however, has been that it will eventually break, especially when as it ages. I'll run the Simplex until something does happen but will probably look to Suntour (as I usually do in these instances) when the inevitable happens. The V-GT Luxe is one of my favorites, btw, and I probably have four or five of them cleaned and maintenanced and waiting on the bench to bat cleanup for the Simplex.

Azorch - I am still running Simplex on my Peugeot PX10 and Ue8. I think they are actually pretty decent, and personally I have never experienced a problem with any Simplex rear DR breaking, except for the somewhat frangible jockey wheels. However - I do not really trust the front DR and inspect it regularly for cracks.

The Suntour on my '72 coffee colored Super Course however is the better changer. I consider it to be functionally as good as the Cyclone II, but aesthetically more appropriate on these old bikes. (Can't get much better than that.)